No job is harder for a board of directors of a credit union, but no job is more crucial than knowing when to separate the cooperative from a lagging chief executive officer and having the strength to act.

Call Ed Speed, CEO of $1.8 billion Texas Dow Employees Credit Union in Lake Jackson, Texas, a maverick. That is a reputation he has won as he has pulled his institution out of credit union industry mainstays such as CUNA and the Texas league.